Right-sizing a flat, Lease Buyback, condo to HDB, and condo to condo. Every sale drawn to scale.
Worked examples
HDB right-sizing
From a 5-room in Bedok to a 3-room near the grandchildren
Mr and Mrs Rahman, 62 and 60. Children married and moved out.
Where they started
Fully paid 5-room flat valued at $780,000. They had used $260,000 of CPF, including accrued interest.
What they did
Sold, bought a 3-room resale flat for $380,000, and looked at topping up CPF for the Silver Housing Bonus.
Fees $18,100Back to CPF $260,000Next flat and duty $389,000Cash left $112,900
Cash left after the new flat
$112,900
Back in their CPF
$260,000
Possible Silver Housing Bonus
up to $30,000
The CPF refund was the surprise. Two decades of accrued interest meant far more went back to CPF than they had put in, which lifts their CPF LIFE payouts instead of their cash.
Lease Buyback
Staying put in Toa Payoh, with a bigger monthly payout
Mdm Siti, 68, widowed, living alone. Did not want to move.
Where they started
Fully paid 4-room flat with 62 years of lease left.
What they did
Kept 30 years of lease, enough to take her to 98, and sold the remaining 32 years back to HDB under the Lease Buyback Scheme.
Lease kept
30 years, to age 98
Sold back to HDB
32 years
Cash bonus
up to $15,000
Keeping more lease than the minimum cost her some proceeds, but she wanted the option to stay well past 95. HDB valued the lease, so the exact top-up only came at the application stage.
Condo to resale HDB
Clearing a condo mortgage at 57 by moving to a resale flat
Mr and Mrs Lim, 57 and 56. Tired of $3,000 monthly instalments.
Where they started
Three-bedroom condo worth $1,650,000, with $350,000 left on the loan and $300,000 of CPF used.
What they did
Sold the condo and bought a $680,000 4-room resale flat with cash and CPF, no HDB loan, so no wait-out applied.
Fees $35,500Mortgage $350,000Back to CPF $300,000Next flat and duty $698,000Cash left $266,500
Cash left after the new flat
$266,500
Back in their CPF
$300,000
Monthly mortgage
none
The timing mattered more than the price. They lined up the sale and purchase so the CPF refund and cash landed before completion, and rented nothing in between.
Condo downsizing
From a 3-bedroom to a 2-bedroom condo, mortgage-free
Mr and Mrs Chua, 54 and 52. Wanted to stay private and stop paying a loan.
Where they started
Condo worth $2,100,000, $600,000 left on the loan, $420,000 of CPF used.
What they did
Sold and bought a $1,250,000 2-bedroom outright, using both the cash and part of the CPF refund.
Fees $44,500Mortgage $600,000Next condo and duty $1,287,600Left over $167,900
Left after buying outright
$167,900
New monthly mortgage
none
Trade-off
less CPF for retirement
Paying with the CPF refund removed the loan but cut what will fund their CPF LIFE payouts later. We ran it both ways, with and without a small loan, before they chose.
Illustrative examples, not actual clients. Names, places and figures are invented to show how the rules work. Fees assume 2% agent fee and $2,500 legal; purchases include buyer’s stamp duty and $3,000 legal.
Hi, I'm Ali.
I'm a property consultant with PropNex (CEA R068687C). I help owners in their 50s and 60s plan the move that pays for retirement, and I show every number before we talk about listing anything.
